Report: Former WWE Star Jeff Hardy Is Staying with TNA

Well, this is certainly bad news for anyone who was hoping Jeff Hardy might make some surprise return to WWE in the future.

TNA's future may be uncertain at the moment...but it appears that former WWE champion Hardy is sticking around for a while.

Executive Vice President of TNA Wrestling John Gaburick confirmed on his official Twitter account Friday that Hardy would be staying with the promotion: 

It's been a rough year for TNA.

As TMZ mentioned, Impact Wrestling was cancelled by Spike TV in July. Several stars, like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Bully Ray left, reinforcing the image that the promotion was a sinking ship. After that, TNA President Dixie Carter managed to secure a deal with the far lower profile channel Destination America, but it was hardly great news. 

The little-watched network is home to such highbrow and prestigious shows as UFOs over Earth, Mountain Monsters, Monsters Underground, Monsters and Mysteries in America, Ghost Stalkers, When Ghosts Attack! and Amish Haunting. (I'm not joking, by the way, those are actual programs that air.) 

Richard Shotwell/Associated Press

TNA might have been making the effort when it debuted on the channel earlier this month, but the comedown was embarrassingly obvious. The production values looked awful, miserable and low budget. Most of the roster appears to have been gutted.

Indeed, the promotion came off as some second-rate indy...not the No. 2 company in America, as fans have been led to believe.

So, really, you could understand why Hardy would make the call to leave and perhaps work out a deal to come back to WWE. Even with his well-documented problems, it's hard to believe Vince McMahon wouldn't love to have him back, especially at a time when he is so low on top stars.  

It's possible, of course, that Hardy knows something we don't and has reason to be positive about TNA and its future. If so, good for him. But, truly, it's rather sad to accept that it will be a long time before fans see him in WWE again.